I’ve been pondering the merits of Google+ recently, especially in light of the fact that Facebook has made some changes to their interface recently. Note that I said, “changes” and not any improvements. In fact, I think what they have done is more than a nuisance more than anything and serves to suggest that maybe Google+ is a viable alternative social network.

But enough about Facebook. One of the key elements that I have always found intriguing about Google+ is the fact that the idea of Hangouts is something that Facebook is unable to compete with right now. Indeed, the new Google+ Hangout Check will even indicate for you if anyone is actually hanging out.

Maybe I don’t have enough Hangout-centric people in my Circles, but it seems to me that the whole concept has petered out. Although I must say, the Hangout Check extension is actually quite useful because when you are not focused on Google+ you can still have an idea if there are people you want to chat with face to face.

Is Google Hangouts a linchpin of Google+ and the overall Chrome space? It’s too soon to tell. Something suggests to me that many people are still a bit uncomfortable with the idea of videoconferencing with friends, despite the fact that many companies already use some form of it for long distances meetings as well as for hiring people remotely.

Once people do use Hangouts and find that they are not uncomfortable or perhaps embarrassed in any way, however, when they use it maybe there will be potential. But there is going to be that hurdle that needs to be overcome, and it won’t be that easy.

via Chrome Story

Google + is one of the fastest growing websites ever. It’s been experiencing a dynamic explosion of growth ever since it opened just a few weeks ago- even though it’s not yet out of its beta stages. A few folks are cautioning us to take a closer look at the growth- and to delve into just how Google +’s demographic is organized- at least in the states.

Web metrics firm comScore has released an analysis both Google +’s growth and its demographics, covering the time from June 29 to July 24. We already know that Google + has over 25 million unique members- so we’ll ignore that. What we’re interested in is the demographic information- what browser, what country, what gender, and what age group Google’s + current userbase hails from.

From comScore’s data, it becomes clear that the highest number of unique visits comes from the United States, at a hefty 6,443,541 users. India, Canada, and the UK rank second, third, and fourth respectively. Given that the United States represents the largest chunk of the Google + userbase, it’s understandable that comScore chose to focus on America for their demographics information.

What they found is…rather telling, to say the least. Evidently, the American user base of Google + is predominantly male, with men making up 63% of unique profiles on Google’s new platform. Consequently, visitors aged 18-34 make up 58% of Google + in the States. Far more interesting is what browser the majority of Google +’s current US crowd is using.

59% of all visits to Google + are on Google’s Chrome browser. Of course, given the excellent range of Google +-related add ons that have been surfacing on the Chrome Web Store since launch, it’s only natural that people’d want to visit on Chrome, isn’t it? After all, the browser in its current state almost seems custom-tailored to mesh well with G +.

According to Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry of Business Insider, the currently dominant demographic of Google + consists of the “young, male, early-adopter type,” most of whom are using Chrome, a browser that Gobry labels as “pretty early-adoptery.”

Um. Right.

Gobry moves on to caution that he’s not actually trying to undermine Google +’s recent success- he simply wants to put it into perspective. The fact that most of the American Google + userbase mainly consists of early adopters (which has nothing to do with the fact that the service has been invite only since its inception, I’m sure) “doesn’t mean that Google + isn’t going to be huge. Plenty of services started with hip, early-adopter types and then broke into the mainstream. But that moderates the narrative of an all-conquering Google + on an unstoppable march.”

Me, I’d argue that demographic is…fairly irrelevant in this case(particularly in light of Gobry’s admission). Google +’s explosive growth is still downright impressive; in spite of the fact that most Google + users are apparently the ‘early adopter type. Honestly? The fact that a service which is still in beta has managed to call so many people to its banner in such a short time is downright incredible. Yes, Google + is still missing a few things as far as being a fully capable alternative to Facebook- games and in-platform apps are the first thing that come to mind here. Thing is, those are most definitely in the works.

And when they finally arrive, I can more or less guarantee that Google + is going to become a lot more mainstream than it already is- and the ‘early adopter’ users will simply be the folks who remember the beta days.

Via Business Insider, Image Credits: Comscore

It’s no surprise that as Google’s social networking site gets more and more popular, more and more developers are taking notice of it. As a result, there seem to be more Chrome apps and extensions centered around G + with each passing day. Apps designed to bring the Google + experience into the larger environment of Chrome. Apps designed to improve upon what you can do with G+, and how you can do it. I’ve already shown you Six extensions guaranteed to make the G+ experience better (well, five…Sorry about that, by the way), and even then, I only scratched the surface. There’s much more to come- and with new apps and extensions releasing every day, you can bet money that there’ll always be some new feature or function for Google’s runaway social networking website.

Here, for your browsing pleasure, are five more applications and extensions that’ll make a brilliant experience even better.

Extended Share for Google Plus

If you’re like me, and tend to share links and posts on a wide variety of social networking sites, an extension like this is a godsend. Basically, it adds a “share on…” link to each item shared by your Google+ Contacts. Click on this link, and it’ll let you share the item on Facebook, Twitter, Linkdin or Tumblr- or all four, if you so desire. Once you’ve installed it and selected the website you want to share on; you’re good to go. Pretty simple to use, and despite what some of the user reviews on the app have said, I’ve had no problem with the functionality of this one.

G + Extended

This extension adds a number of rather useful keyboard shortcuts (not to be confused with the Google + Commander Userscript, which adds a number of “ctrl” based user commands to G +- that one’s a bit more ‘geek-oriented’ than this one). Basically, this is one of those extensions designed to make things easier. With G + Extended, you’ll gain access to the following keyboard ‘shortcuts’ when a post in your stream has focus (basically, click anywhere in the post, or use “j” or “k” to navigate through your posts):

1. “+” Will +1 a post
2. “-” Will remove your +1 on a post
3. “p” will toggle your “+1″ on a post
4. “s” will share a post”
5. “e” will expand the comments thread so you can view older comments

From the looks of things, the developer is currently looking to expand the library of shortcuts, and is asking for user input/commentary on what they feel would be a useful addition to the extension. If you’ve got an idea as to what could be added; swing by the page(linked above) and leave a comment.

Photo Zoom

This is one of those extensions that fits under the “elegantly simple, but inarguably useful” category. Here’s the scenario- for whatever reason; a photo you’re seeing in your Google + stream is too small for your tastes. Maybe you’re trying to view a photo that one of your contacts shared, or simply get a closer look at their profile picture without having to go to their page. Photo Zoom has the answer. Once you’ve installed it, all you have to do is mouse over an image in your Google + stream, and it’ll load the zoomed/full size image right there in your stream. Once you remove the mouse from the image, the zoomed in photo vanishes.

Like I said: simple, but useful.

I’ve only found one issue with the extension thus far- it doesn’t seem to like animated photos.

Comments Toggle

Sometimes, a post you’ll see in your Google + stream just has…way, way too many comments.  It can very easily get to the point where your stream starts to feel rather cluttered. This extension offers up a solution- though the developer does note that there may be a few errors or unfixed bugs on the extension page.  Anyway, what Comments Toggle does is…well, basically, what’s written on the box.  It automatically hides comments on posts shared to you by your circles. To see them, all you have to do is click. My one grip with the extension is that it doesn’t display all the comments in a thread- the ones that Google + hides by default as “older comments” will still be hidden if you click ‘show comments.’ Not a particularly major concern, but it’s nevertheless a touch annoying.

Could be a function to add in a future release, I suppose. Either way, this one’s a pretty useful extension if you find your G + stream feeling too cluttered by comments.

Helper For Google +

I’m gonna go out with a bang this time around. This extension is downright huge- and probably one of the most useful on the list. First off, it adds a tweet button to every Google + post. That by itself wouldn’t really differentiate it from any of the other extensions on here, but it also adds a translate button(letting you use Google Translate on pretty much any post you desire in your stream), enables desktop notifications (with sound, to boot), offers linked hashtags in a similar fashion to Twitter to make search easier, and finally, allows you to search for Google + posts and profiles directly from the Chrome omnibus by typing “plus” before the query.

Like I said, huge extension- and well worth the download.

Some of you might have heard talk of a Google + App for Chrome that’ll somehow let you access the site, shunting the whole invite process, and ignoring the various workarounds available for it. Most notably, the app was mentioned in this blog post. According to the post, you can download the app, use it to access Google’s site and then sign in with your Google Account to sign up for Google +. That sounds pretty awesome, doesn’t it? It also sounds too good to be true, right?

That’s because it is.

The Chrome application in question is one of two identical apps, neither of them official. All they do is provide a link to plus.google.com. That’s it. I’m not sure why there are two of them, or why anyone thought to provide an app that does pretty much the same thing dragging a URL onto the quickbar would accomplish- it all seems a little strange to me. What’s strange is that, apparently, the method described on Tech18(Install the app, use it to access the site, log in) actually worked for some people. That was back at the beginning of the month, though- I doubt it’ll work now.

If you folks are really desperate to try out Google +, here’s a workaround that actually, well…works. I’ve managed to get about ten of my friends onto the service with it.  I’m pretty certain, given the amount of press surrounding this workaround, that Google’s already aware of it, too. They’re probably leaving it up so that anyone who does manage to get into the service gains some small degree of pride at ‘outsmarting’ the search giant.  And a lot of you probably think I’m paranoid for believing that.

Fact is, the alternative truth is that Google’s uncharacteristically clueless about a rather large hole in the coding of their latest pet project. Which do you think is more likely?

via Tech18

Well, looks like Google’s doing well. Recently, Google CEO Larry Page announced Google’s second quarter earnings, as well as some usage statistics. Fans of Google will be happy to know that pretty much every one of the primary platforms is booming. Let’s take a belated look at what Larry shared with us, shall we?

Earnings:

Google’s earnings have gone up 32% from last year, netting Google around $9.03 billion dollars in gross revenue, with 6.23 of that being generated from Google-owned sites. Though Page asserted that search and advertising are still Google’s core businesses, products like Chrome, Youtube, and Google + are part of a long term goal and should generate “huge new business” for the company, which is quickly moving from a search-engine giant to a multimedia empire. Think that’s a hyperbolic statement? Take a look at some of the other stats Page has released.

Google +:

True to Paul Allen’s prediction, Larry announced on the earnings call that Google+ had broken the ten million user mark, with one billion items shared each day, and Google’s +1 button being clicked up to 2.3 billion times a day. And just think- if Mr. Allen was right about Google + having ten million users on Thursday, might he also be right in predicting that it’s ballooned to over twenty million by now?

Chances are good that he is.

Android:

Android now has 550,000 devices activated each day, with one hundred sixty million devices(and over four hundred unique models) worldwide. Something tells me Apple might be getting a bit nervous about this one.

Chrome:

And here’s the news you’ve all been waiting for. As of Thursday, Chrome has one hundred sixty million users- and they’re still going strong. Unless Microsoft or Mozilla manages to pull out some incredible feature that leaves Chrome in the dust, something tells me that it might just be the dominant browser on the market in a few years time.

And I see absolutely nothing wrong with that.

via All Geek

Oracle’s acquisition of Sun Microsystem gave it a reputation as the world’s largest Open Source company. Yeah, that didn’t last- Oracle quickly demonstrated that it had absolutely no love for anything open source, killing or distancing itself from a wide range of its old (or acquired) projects. And let’s not even touch what they’ve done with Java- their lawsuit against Google honestly seems like a blatant cash grab from my end, and given that Java’s supposedly open source code…yeah. I’m not exactly certain what it is they’re hoping to accomplish with that.

Oracle’s blunders aren’t the topic of this article. Not exactly.

Recently, Swapnil Bhartiya of Muktware posted a very interesting article detailing how Google has very likely replaced Oracle as the master of open source on the internet. Bhartiya cited several reasons why they believed this to be the case:

* Google owns Android, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system.

* Google develops Google Chrome, the world’s fastest and most popular (after Firefox) open source browser.

* Google develops ChromeOS, an open source cloud-based operating system built on top of Gentoo Linux.

* Google has open sourced the components – WebM and WebP –  which can become the foundation of image and video on the Internet (yes a lot of work is yet to be done).

* Google just open sourced WebRTC.

* Not to forget, Google also runs the world’s largest hacking/developers event for the promotion of open source — Google Summer of Code.

Despite, its core technologies being proprietary, Google has done more than enough for the Free Software community, it has always paid heed to the call of community and did what was needed — open sourced VP8 when the Free Software Foundation made a call to release the technology as a free software technology.

Now, I’m noticing a few problems with this analysis. While Android does have a very large, thriving open source community, Google has on several occasions demonstrated they don’t necessarily bear that community any love (Netflix, anyone?).  Then again, all of the other items on the list certainly do paint Google as something of a champion where open source software is concerned- though I’m noticing that the list seems to be missing one very vital, very important item: Chromium. Nowhere has Google demonstrated its capability at open coding more than with The Chromium Project. See, as you folks know, while Chrome is certainly developed with Linux as a base, it’s not exactly available to the general public. Hence why Google started up Chromium- giving tech geeks everywhere an entire cloud-based operating system to tinker with to their hearts content.

Google, the King of Open Source. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? In any case, they’ve certainly done more for the movement than many others- including software giants Microsoft and Apple, two of their chief competitors in the industry.

Google + is pretty awesome, isn’t it? But you know what makes it more awesome? Some of the addons for Chrome that have been circulating about the internet since its release a mere two weeks ago. Developers have been hard at work putting together applications and extensions to expand and improve upon the Google + experience. The prospects are most definitely looking good. Given that I’ve already shared ten addons with all of you; you’re probably wondering how much more there could possibly be.

Fact is? As Google + evolves and expands, there are going to be more and more applications and extensions designed to improve upon the Google + experience. So…there’ll probably be much, much more to come. Look forward to it. After all, if this is the sort of stuff the devs are making for us now, imagine what we’ll be seeing a few months down the line?

Anyway, here’s a few more applications and extensions I’d recommend if you’re looking to get a bit more ‘oomph’ out of Google +.

Start G +

We’re off to a good start here. Start G + basically does the same thing “Google + Facebook” did- without the whole malware situation. Actually, it does it one better; putting your Facebook and Twitter feeds directly into your Google + stream- complete with rich media content and links on the side of the page. Nice.  That’s not all it does, either- it also automatically posts to Twitter and Facebook whenever you share something on Google +. For those of you who don’t want posts on Google + going to all three sites all the time, you can turn the feature off on a case by case basis; from within the ‘share’ window. Even better, the extension also adds a Gmail notifier to the Google Bar. Clicking this notification brings up a menu with unread messages that you can access from directly within Google +. Complete social integration?

Yes, please.

Google + Ultimate

This powerfully named extension has just recently been ported from a much simpler userscript(possibly Google + ->Contrast, from the looks of it). Though it’s still in beta, this extension’s purpose is pretty clear- it wants to make Google + sexier. According to the extension page, Google + Ultimate makes the following changes to the layout of the site:

1. A new “Side by Side” option-very remniscient of Google +-> Contrast.
2. Status bar will always be on top, no matter where you are in the page. This way, you will always have navigation and statuses available.
3. Lots of padding, margins, and font changes to make the theme a bit more dense
4. Put the Shared and +1′s on the same line. (Shared names were taken out)
5. Option to make scrollbars thin
6. Option to reduce max image size to be more of Facebook standard size
7. Optional Chatbox list set to scroll after specificed length
8. Optional repositioning of Add to Circles, moved down 30px to avoid accidentally adding people to the wrong circle

Not too shabby. Not sure it makes Google + look better, per se…but the base extension definitely makes Google + resemble Facebook a bit more closely. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not, myself. Still, it’s a good extension, and perfect for those folks who are looking to shake things up a bit with their G + experience.

Share + Social Buttons

Here’s another addon in the spirit of Extended Share. Truthfully, I’d actually recommend this extension over Extended share- it’s a lot more visual, with support for a wider range of social networking sites than Extended share offers.  Basically, once you’ve installed this extension, it’ll add a button to each post on Google +. Clicking that button will open up a context menu, shown above, which will allow you to share the item to any of a number of social networks. Pretty handy, particularly if you want to post something to several sites at once. What’s more, the extension’s got a pretty active update schedule, and is continually expanding- it just recently added support for both Posterous and Tumblr.

Usability Boost For Google +

Here’s another extension that changes the layout to Google +, adding some CSS style changes that the developer purports will help users to “visualize the flow of information on Google Plus.’ It visually separates posts and comments, keeps the Google/Notification bar fixed at the top of the screen, and displays a direct link on posts that allows you to ‘mute’ them. For those of you who don’t know what muting is, it basically means turning off notifications for that post. This extension doesn’t necessarily do as much as some of the other one’s I’ve profiled, but just the same, I’d say it’s pretty useful, and worth a look if you want to fiddle with the look of Google Plus a bit. What’s more, the developer promises that there will be more improvements to come- though he’s rather nebulous on what those improvements might entail. Those of you interested in learning a bit more about the extension can follow him on Google + for updates.

I’m sure we all know that Google’s new social networking venture had been experiencing some rather explosive growth lately, but this….this is really something else. According to an analysis conducted today by Paul Allen of Ancestry.com, Google +’s userbase is slated to hit the ten million mark by tomorrow.  What’s more, he expects that number to double by the weekend. While that doesn’t really scratch Facebook’s userbase- which is well over two hundred million- it’s still pretty damned significant, particularly since the service is technically still in beta with restricted invites. One thing’s for sure, if Google +’s exponential growth continues as it evidently has, well…let’s just say we’ll be able to see the sweat on Facebook’s brow.

The Survey

Now, I’m not trying to deny that Google + is popular as all hell. Nor am I trying to downplay the service. Quite the contrary, I love it. It’s just that ten million users in a week and a half seems a bit high, wouldn’t you say?  Let’s take a look at how Mr. Allen came to his conclusion- that should clear this up, one way or the other. According to the study Allen posted on Google +;

My model is simple. I start with US Census Bureau data about surname popularity in the U.S., and compare it to the number of Google+ users with each surname. I split the U.S. users from the non-U.S. users. By using a sample of 100-200 surnames, I am able to accurately estimate the total percentage of the U.S. population that has signed up for Google+. Then I use that number and a calculated ratio of U.S. to non-U.S. users to generate my worldwide estimates…my project is like that – a low-budget sampling. I have randomly selected 100 uncommon U.S. surnames and I am tracking the number of Google+ users with those names – updating my counts every 2-3 days. I am assuming that the growth in G+ users with those surnames is similar to the growth in G+ users with the other 150,000 or so surnames in the U.S. If I had resources to include 500 or 1,000 surnames in my sample, then I believe my model would be more accurate.

Final Thoughts- The Results

So…basically, he conducted a low-budget Google + census. Now, I’m no statistician, but his method seems pretty sound to me. Granted, it’s not going to be one hundred percent accurate- nor did he claim perfect accuracy- but the way he estimated the number of users on Google + is basically identical to the method by which a lot of studies and surveys find their results- random samplings; since it would be damn near impossible to interview or examine every single individual. Even if such a thing were possible, it would likely take such a long time that the data would no longer be valid or current by the time the study was completed.

Hopefully Google releases official usage statistics soon- though we’re probably going to have to wait until the official launch for that one. I suspect that by the time Google does release their own set of statistics, the number of G + users will have expanded to well beyond ten million.

via Venturebeat

Update: Uh, Wow. So apparently Paul was pretty much right on the mark. His estimates have been confirmed by Google CEO Larry Page. Nice.

I’ve gotta say, Google + is pretty awesome. Google’s privacy foibles aside; I’m loving it, and I’m immensely looking forward to when it finally launches. Just the same though…no matter how good something is, there are always improvements you can make to it.  No, I’m not talking about changes to the platform itself- Google’s not yet released the developer’s kit, to my knowledge. I’m instead referring to improvements upon the experience, by integration of Google’s newest social networking platform with its excellent web browser, Google Chrome.  And not just simple integration, either.

I’m talking about a lot more.

See, even though G+ has only been out for about two weeks now, a number of hardworking independent developers and designers have already released a number of extensions that not only bring the Google + experience closer to Google Chrome, but improve upon that experience in some rather excellent ways. If you’re using Google + with the Chrome browser, these addons are inarguably all worth a look. Now, those of you not using Chrome don’t have to feel left out, either- there are a number of addons like Greasemonkey, Stylish, and Greasekit that’ll let you run these extensions even if you don’t want to bother taking a few minutes to download and install Chrome.  Anyway, let’s have a look, shall we?

Google + Commander

Here’s the thing about a lot of us Google Geeks- hell, computer geeks in general. We love hotkeys. And why shouldn’t we? They’re simple and convenient, and make an already efficient and streamlined task or process fly by even more quickly. Google kind of made a bit of an oops in this regard. I want you guys to think of every single keyboard command you’re aware of in Google +. Hell, let’s do a bit of an experiment: Name ten. And no, not browser commands, either- keyboard commands specially tailored for G+.

You can’t do it, can you?

The creators of the Google + Commander Userscript realized fairly quickly that Google + doesn’t offer much for us command happy tech geeks, and they quickly set to work putting together a script that installed the following keyboard commands:

* c to comment
* s to share
* + to +1
* gg to go to top.
* G to go to bottom.
* n to show notification panel.
* i to focus to a form of new entry.
* esc to close current active textbox.
* gh to go to Home.
* gP to go to Photos.
* gp to go to Profile.
* gc to go to Circles.

Not too shabby, eh?

Google+ Header Hider

The Google bar is great. I’m not denying that. It’s efficient, functional, and easy to use. But what if, for some reason, you wanted to hide it? Make it invisible when you were’t using it in order to save space in your browser? That’s precisely what Google Header Hider does. It basically turns on autohide for the Google bar- meaning that when you aren’t using it, it’s tucked out of the way, but you can mouse over the area where was to make it pop up. This’ll work for pretty much any website the Google bar appears on. Pretty nifty, no?

Google+ Enhancer

The folks behind the userscript improvements weren’t satisfied just stopping at the autohide feature. Oh no. They wanted to do more with Google +-much more. See, they figured that there are actually several other functionalities and features that were missing from the Google Bar. Naturally, resourceful folk that they are, they set right out to rectify their concerns. The Enhancer usercript adds unread counts for Gmail, Calendar, and Reader, thus connecting you to your Google account in such a way that Google curiously forgot to do.

Google+ Facebook

I actually just recently covered this one. You can read my article on the subject here. Basically, this one is designed for those of you who want to remain active on Facebook while switching over to Google +- thus providing something of a panacea for the sting of ditching a social network where you’ve had years to get entrenched and make friends. Installing the Google + Facebook browser plugin will add a new icon next to the Google + default pages on Google’s site. Clicking it will show your your Facebook news feed, without forcing you to return to Zuckerberg’s site in order to read it. Nice.

Update: Hold off on installing this one for now, folks. Fellow on Reddit by the name of RogueDarkJedi looked through the code, and his conclusions were…distressing, to say the least. Turns out, Google+Facebook could potentially be malware. Assuming the developer response he received for his original post is legit…let’s just say it doesn’t look good. I’m going to do a bit more research on the matter- I’ll keep you folks posted. For the time being, it would be best to err on the side of caution.

Surplus for Google Chrome

I recently spoke of this extension, as welll. Long story short, it lets you access the basics of your Google + profile without taking you back to the site to do so. Granted, there are a few glitches with it at the moment, but the developer’s working hard to repair them.

Google+ -> Contrast, Denser, More Features

Here’s an addition to the list that’s more stylistic than functional. It adjusts the layout of Google + to be more ergonomic in design, making it easier to use many of the feature on Google’s website. Basically, it totally refines the layout of the website. I’m hoping that Google works out some way to adjust personalize the layout of Google + at some point in the future- perhaps something involving widgets, and the ability to change the theme as you can in Gmail- but for now, this’ll do quite nicely as far as improving the look of the site- even though it’s not exactly an ugly duckling to begin with.

And there you have it. A few apps and extensions that are pretty much guaranteed to improve on your Google + experience.

Via Extreme Tech

So….uh. If you’ve been wanting to get on board of Google +, but can’t bear the thought of leaving your Facebook account behind…believe it or not, there’s actually a Chrome tool that’ll let you not only add a new tab to your Google bar entitled “Facebook;” It’ll also let you view your Facebook news feed in your Google + stream. Yikes. Now, I’m not really certain how long an extension like this is going to function for, myself- I’m guessing Facebook’s probably already looking for a way to shut it down. The extension’s developed by a group known as Crossrider, who’ve put together an app that allows developers to easily create cross-platform browser extensions. It’s still in beta, but at a cursory glance, it seems like a rather excellent idea; and one which will save crossplatform developers a hell of a lot of time.

Anyway, back to the software. Given what we know about Crossrider, it kind of makes sense that they might create a piece of software like “Google + Facebook.” After all, if they’ve already allowed developers to overcome the lines between different platforms, why not do the same for users? The question is whether or not they’ll develop a Chrome plugin that lets the connection go the other way, as well. Seems unlikely, but you never know.

Crossriders’ Google + Facbook is just the latest in a line of free Chrome tools and apps that seem custom-tailored to spit in Zuckerberg’s face. Suffice it to say, the media frenzy over Google + has made on thing very, very clear: Facebook might be the most prominent social networking website in the world, but it’s also among the most hated. The fact that “Google + is like Facebook, but isn’t Facebook” is evidently enough to get some people on board is rather telling in itself, wouldn’t you say? Grab a copy of Google + Facebook for yourself here.

Update: Hold off on installing this one for now, folks. Fellow on Reddit by the name of RogueDarkJedi looked through the code, and his conclusions were…distressing, to say the least. Turns out, Google+Facebook could potentially be malware. Assuming the developer response he received for his original post is legit…let’s just say it doesn’t look good. I’m going to do a bit more research on the matter- I’ll keep you folks posted. For the time being, it would be best to err on the side of caution.

via Technott